Dumb question: how do you pronounce BIS?

[North Star]

Piss, but change the p for a b. Now bis off!

[eyeresist]

Regardless of how we are supposed to pronounce it, I am pronouncing it Biss.

This.

Now to write that angry letter to cpo about their lack of capitalisation.

[listener]

Nor can I make Basel sound like 'bowel'...

The French equivalent, "Bâle" sounds like a Bostonian try at the word.

[Gurn Blanston]

The French equivalent, "Bâle" sounds like a Bostonian try at the word.

Ah, I see (hear?). In some twisted way, that actually makes sense. Thanks!

[snyprrr]

Hey, I didn't name the company.

'bis' is Swedish for 'encore'

[Karl Henning]

'bis' is Swedish for 'encore'

Encore is French for again.

Bis goes back to Latin.

(How do the Swedes pronounce the vowel there?)

[North Star]

Encore is French for again.

Bis goes back to Latin.

(How do the Swedes pronounce the vowel there?)

The i is as in this, and the s as in keys.

[Lilas Pastia]

Encore is French for again.

Funny! In French encore is always an adverb, never a noun. For an encore we say 'un rappel' 

[kishnevi]

The i is as in this, and the s as in keys.

For my American ears at least, that makes it very close to the first syllable of business.

[kishnevi]

Funny! In French encore is always an adverb, never a noun. For an encore we say 'un rappel' 

French derived words in English seem to fall into two categories:  words and phrases which have been taken over with their original meanings more or less intact, and usually have been used as such since medieval or Renaissance times, and words and phrases which have been taken over only in what is their secondary meaning, or used in ways that don't quite replicate the French original usage--rendezvous and gauche are two good examples, I think.

ETA: and then there are phrases which are taken over wholesale from French because the necessary decadence would not be found in a straight English translation.  Menage a trois does not quite mean the same thing as a threesome.

[snyprrr]

Really? Is this necessary to embarrass ourselves in front of Guests? Oy!

[North Star]

For my American ears at least, that makes it very close to the first syllable of business.

As long as the s is pronounced as an s

[bɪs]

[Karl Henning]

Funny! In French encore is always an adverb, never a noun. For an encore we say 'un rappel' 

Oui! Encore become somehow nounified in our adoption.

[Karl Henning]

As long as the s is pronounced as an s

[bs]

So the s is voiceless? And the vowel no great distance from the "short i" in English.

[North Star]

So the s is voiceless? And the vowel no great distance from the "short i" in English.

Yes to both. I don't detect any difference between the English "short i" and the i in Finnish or Scandinavian languages.

[snyprrr]

So, basically ,... it's pronounced 'bis'?.

!!

... errr...

[Karl Henning]

It's simpler than you thought.

(* bites tongue *)

[snyprrr]

This Thread now has over twice as many Views as other similar Threads in The Diner. yup it does

Swedes will argue with you even if they agree, so, this Thread is fu-u-u-cked!

[Karl Henning]

You are just taking the Bis, aren't you?

[North Star]

So, basically ,... it's pronounced 'bis'?.

!!

... errr...

Yes. 
That's what I love about Scandinavian languages, and Finnish much more. In Finnish, there are a couple of diphthongs, but basically everything is pronounced exactly as written.